Yahoo, DirecTV ‘among seven bidders’ for Hulu

AP, LOS ANGELES

Sun, May 26, 2013 - Page 13

Online video site Hulu is again up for sale, with Yahoo and pay-TV operators DirecTV and Time Warner Cable among the seven bidders, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke Friday on condition of anonymity, after several news outlets reported on the bidding.

The person did not offer details on the prices offered. Published reports have pegged a bid by a group led by former News Corp executive Peter Chernin at US$500 million. The other three bidders were all private equity firms: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co; Guggenheim Partners; and Silver Lake, in partnership with talent agency William Morris Endeavor, according to the person.

The Walt Disney Co and News Corp control Hulu through their broadcast subsidiaries, ABC and Fox. Comcast Corp, owner of NBC, is also an investor, although it gave up its say in Hulu’s affairs as a condition of its purchase of NBCUniversal in 2011.

Hulu’s owners tried to sell the site before, but decided against it in 2011 after months of entertaining outside offers. Talk of a sale resurfaced after Hulu CEO Jason Kilar announced in January that he would step down at the end of March. Since then, Hulu has been led by interim CEO Andy Forssell.

Its owners have struggled over the right strategy for the service. It offers free viewing of recent episodes of broadcast network shows like ABC’s Modern Family or NBC’s Saturday Night Live with ads, but those episodes are also available elsewhere, such as on the networks’ own Web sites. The paid version, called Hulu Plus, provides access to a deeper catalog and allows viewing on mobile devices and Internet-connected TVs, but several networks including ABC and NBC have developed apps that allow full-episode viewing on mobile devices for free.

Hulu made US$695 million in revenue last year and said in April that more than 4 million customers pay US$8 a month for Hulu Plus. Both Disney and News Corp have said that Hulu is losing money.